Camille’s Cooking: An eggy delight for holiday brunch

This exciting time of year hands us Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaaand many year-end celebrations. As always, food is one of the greatest parts of the equation for all our holiday gatherings.

Countless recipes for cookiesand hors d’oeuvres will parade endlessly across all social media channels, and we will all meet to share our thoughts and ideas on the very best way to indulge during this festive time of year.

The following recipe is my fresh twist for hosting a weekend holiday brunch. I call this Eggs in Bread Buckets. I first started to make eggs baked in bread when I saw a scene in the movie Moonstruck. Cher’s mom, played by Olympia Dukakis, was frying eggs inside a round circle of French bread. I thought that looked so very scrumptious, and so, of course, I tried it. From there, I started to bake eggs in rolls.

I use fresh Italian ingredients in this recipe, but you can go in any direction you wish. Try a Greek version by adding oregano and feta cheese, or you can go Mexican by using cilantro, a dollop of salsa and crumbly cotija cheese.

However, no matter how you decide to prepare my eggs in bread buckets,cutting into the crusty bread and having the yolk ooze out will be a pure delight during your holiday brunch!

EGGS IN BREAD BUCKETS

4 round dinner rolls

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 cup basil, chopped

4 jumbo large eggs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 sun-dried tomatoes, diced

Parmigiano-Reggiano grated cheese

Slice off the top of each dinner roll. Carefully remove the inside of the bread to create a hollow, making sure the bottom of the roll remains intact. Spread the softened butter on the inside of each roll.

Grate the garlic cloves so that the garlic falls into the hole of each dinner roll. Sprinkle in half the basil. Crack an egg into each dinner roll. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Add a teaspoon of diced sun-dried tomato and sprinkle with the remaining basil. Top with a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

On a baking sheet, bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for twenty minutes or until bread is toasted golden at the edges.

Camille’s Tip: Use eggs and butter that are room temperature, unless a recipe specifically calls for cold.